Nonspilling-pocket gate



March 1o, 1931. TREZONA ET AL 1,195,979

NONSPILLING POCKET GATE Filed April 25,` 192s 2 sheets-sheet 1 .Mlalch10, 1.931. Q TREZONA ET AL 1,795,979

NONSPILLING POCKET GATE Filed April 23, 192s 2 sheets-sheet 2 PatentedMar. 10, 1931 inn-r- @STATS l messie PTM" Fricti- GHARLES TREZONA, OFELY, AND EDWARD A; MALMGREN, 0F DULUTH, MINNESOTA NoNsPriJLING-POCKETGATE Application filed. April 23,'

This Vinvention pertains to non-spilling pocket gates, and moreparticularly to loading and measuring means actuated to prevent spillingor dribbling from thedevice during loading operations.

l It is desirable in loading conveyors from any source to transfer thematerial from the source tothe conveyors without spilling the materialaround the conveyor and to fill the same to predetermined amounts. Inunderf ground mine operations, ore or the like is hoisted from the lowerlevels by means of a skip,which skip travels in a shaft which isoftentimes considerably larger in cross-section than thecross-'sectional area of the skip. The skip is loaded at the workinglevel from an underground pocket which is to receive the cre 'from minecarsr operating on the level above. Heretofore, it has beenl thepractice to provide the bottom or mouth of the pocket' with a gate ofthefinger type, which gate was operated by any suitable mechanism. Vithsuch construction, loading takes place after the skip has been stoppedat the desired point below the pocket by merely opening the gate andallowing the ore in the pocket to slide directly into the skip. However,in discharging from the pocket to the skip, the ore has to pass over theintervening space between the end of the chute and the skip, and incompleting this operation, there is always a dribble of ore past theskip down the shaft, the

accumulation ofwhich is of course objec-V tionable and has to be removedfrom time to time.

l lt is therefore an object of this invention to provide a non-spillingpocket gate construction to eliminate spillage of material, especiallyin mine operations.

Another object is to provide a device for measuring quantities of ore orthe like and operative to discharge substantially all of saidmateria-linto a conveyor.

Still another object is to provide discharge apparatus associated withthe Ymeasuring pocket whereby the material will not be discharged fromthe pocket until guiding meansV `for said material has been located todirect the material into aconveyor.

'A further Objectis to provide discharge 1928. Serial N'd. 272,123.

terial from thepocket to the conveyor.

A still further object is to provide a nonspilling pocket gate which issimple, cheap to manufacture, easily removed, convenient to operate andfulills all requirements of manufacture and service.V

lV ith these and kvarious other objects in view, the invention consistsof certain novel features of construction and operation as will be morefully described and particularly pointed out in the specification,drawings and claims appended hereto. y

ln the drawings, wherein vlike reference characters are used todesignate like parts- Figure 1 is a sectional side elevation of thedevice, showing the same in inoperative position; f f

Figure 2 is a front elevation of the device illustrated in Figure 1; and

Figure 3 is a sectional side elevation of the device illustrated in F igure 1, the same being shown in operative or discharge position.

In the device shown, the discharge pocket 10 is constructed having afront wall 11 associated with a side wall 12 of a mine shaft, the sainebeing located in a position so that it will not interfere. with theoperation or travel of the skip 13 which is adapted to travel within theshaft and be loaded from said pocket. The pocket is provided with areinforced rear wall 14: sloping toward t ie shaft, the lower portion ofsaid wall being spaced from the lower edge of the wall 11, providing anopening which is adapted to be closed by means of the gate 15 hinged tothe wall 11 as at 16, the

gate being formed with guide plates 17 eX- l tending and overlapping thewall 14 so as to provide shields 'for the material vin dischargeposition, preventing the material from flowing from the sides of thepocket.`

rlChe pocket is also provided with side walls 18 for completing thepocket, which sidewalls may form a convenient attachment for horizontaland vertical plate members 19 and 20 serving to secure the device withinthe pocket provided in the mine or the like. The pocket is also providedwith a chute 21 oi t ie tunnel type, having an end opening 22 locatedwithin a further out 23 of the device-containing space. T he chute ishinged as at 2st and overlaps the bottom and sides of the measuringpocket in to prevent leakage from the side of the chute when inoperation.

ifi portion of the front wall 25 of the chute overlaps the lower edge ofthe gate l5 in order t-o maintain the same in closed position when thedevice is inoperative. the chute being Ypref- Verably moved by means ofengine 26 which mov take the form of a cylinder and piston l ivi p apiston rod 2'4" pivoted as at 28 to the chute, the ni"t m being actuatedby fluid supplied sel cted ends of the cylinder by means of fluid lines29 and 3C' connected to the operating valve located above the level 32for tl ereof through the convenient operation lever Tl e pocket isprovided with a frame 34 which may support locking mechanism for thegate 15. Said mechanism may take the form of a toggle including abellcrank 35 pivoted at to the frame 3d, one arm 37 of the bellcrankbeing pivoted as at 3S to a link 39, the other end of which is pivotedas at l() to the shield lr? of the gate, the link and bellcrank being soarranged that they lock the door in closed position. A. spring orcounterweight may be attached to the end of the arm 35, if desired, forthe purpose of urging the gate into closed or open position. rlhe otherarm Ll1 ofthe bellcrank is attached to a portion of the chute such as bymeans of a flexible chain 42. The pocket may also be provided with anyusual chair operating mechanism for the skips, such as the lever i3 (themanner of the conventional mechanism not being illustrated).

ln operation then, when it is desired to load Y a skip 13, the samebeing positioned below the chute 21, such as illustrated in Figure 3,fluid is admitted t-o the valve 31 through the conduit dil, and thevalve is operated to permit the fluid to pass through the pipe 29 to oneend of the cylinder 26 moving the piston and piston ro-d outwardly,causing outward movement of the chute 21. Just as the lower lip of thechute passes the vertical plane through the adjacent side of the skip,tension is applied to the arm l1 through the chain l2 which moves thebell-crank to break the toggle, thereby unlookin@ the pocket gate 15 andallowing the weight of the ore in the'pocket to force the gate open. Theore then passes freely into the skip without dribbling down the shaft,the pocket gate being preferably of such size that it may be totallydischarged into the skip, lilling the same.

lt will be noticed that the pocket gate 15 is always overlapped by theouter face of the chute, thereby preventing anyV tendency of spilling. When the pocket has been discharged, fluid is admitted through the pipe30 to the other end of the cylinder, causing movement of the chuteinwardly, the outer face of the chute engaging the lower end of the gatel5, moving the same back to its normal or closet position, at which timethe toggle levers are dropped or forced into their closed or lockingpositions.

When the chute is not in its full open potion, the balance of the gate15 is such that t will remain sufficiently open to allow all dribble topass inside the chute and thence into the skip, and further, the centerof grav- ,ity of the chute 21 is such that when moving free fromrestraint by the engine, it will not only return itself tothe positionindicated in Figure 1, but will also force the gate 15 into its normallyclosed position, the object of this being that if for any reason theengine becomes inoperative or is detachedfrom the chute, the chute willalways of its own accord assume a position where it will not be struckby the moving skip.

lt is to be understood that I do not wish to be device shown, which ismerely by way of illustration and not limitation, as various and otherforms of the device will of course be apparent to those skilled in theart.

No claim:

1. ln ya device of the character described, measuring pocket including afront wall, vertical side walls and an inclined bottom wall, the loweredge of said inclined bottom wall being-arranged ink theA plane of saidfront wall, a gate for controlling the discharge from said pocket, saidgate including a front wall arranged to form a substantial prolongationof the front wall of said pocket and side walls adapted to overlap theside walls of said pocket, said gate being pivotally mounted to freelyhang in a slightly open position, means normally holding said gate inclosed position, means for releasing said gate to permit said gate tobe.openedby the weight ofmaterial in said pocket.

2. ln a device of the character described, a measuring pocket includinga front wall, vertical side walls andan inclined bottom wall, the loweredge of said inclined bottom wall beingarranged in the planeV of saidfront wall, a gate for controlling the discharge from said pocket, saidgate including a front wall arranged to form a substantial prolongationof the front wall of said pocket and side walls adapted to overlap theside walls of said pocket, said gate being pivotally mounted to freelyhang in a slightly open position, means normally holding said gate inclosed position, means for releasing said gate to permit said gate to beYopened by thev weight of material in said pocket, saidlast named meanscomprising a directing chute pivotally Amounted to be swung intooperwill not normally close of its own accord i limited by the exactembodiment ofthe llO ative position to direct the discharge of materialfrom said pocket.

3. In a device of the character described, a measuring pocket includinga front Wall, vertical side Walls Aand an inclined bottom Wall, thelower edge of said inclined bottom Wall being arranged in the plane ofsaid front Wall, a gate for controlling the discharge from said pocket,said gate including a front Wall arranged to form a substantialprolongation of the front Wall 'of said pocket and side Walls adapted tooverlap the side Walls of said pocket, said gate being pivotally mountedto freely hang in a slightly open position, means normally holding saidgate in closed position, means for releasing said gate to permit saidgate to be'opened by the Weight of materia-l in said pocket, said lastnamed means comprising a directing chute pivotally mounted to be swunginto operative position to direct the discharge of material from saidpocket, said chute including a front Wall arranged to form substantialprolongation of the front Wall of said pocket when in inoperativeposition and side Walls arranged to overlap the side Walls of said gate.

Signed at Duluth, Minnesota, this 17th day of April, 1928. l Y vCHARLESTREZONA.

lEDWARD A. MALMGREN.

